This book provides the analytical framework for understanding the relationship between media scandals, executive accountability and the crisis of democracy. The empirical findings are based on an original database of 6000 media allegations and investigations in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. Observations gained from the case studies are then placed in relation to a systematic analysis and critique of more than 100 models of the transformation and crisis of democracy. The book will be of particular interest to researchers focusing on democratic theory and political thought, as well as those working empirically in the field of democratic systems.

This timely book provides a comprehensive analysis of political uncertainty and one of the first efforts to empirically measure it. Gergana Dimova compares political ambiguity within both established as well as unconsolidated democracies and explores institutional, behavioral, and media factors influencing such uncertainty. Combining aggregate statistical analysis and qualitative case studies, she seeks to provide answers to some hotly discussed questions of comparative politics, such as: To what extent is uncertainty invariable and unavoidable in political life? Why does uncertainty arise and how is it affecting liberal democracies? In conclusion, Dimova argues that even in so-called "managed democracies," such as Russia, uncertainty is rife. Yet it is of a very different type there than ambiguity in more established democracies, such as Germany. Overall, this book furnishes important insights about the value of uncertain actions in political life and useful tips about how and when to combat it.

This book provides the analytical framework for understanding the relationship between media scandals, executive accountability and the crisis of democracy. The empirical findings are based on an original database of 6000 media allegations and investigations in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. Observations gained from the case studies are then placed in relation to a systematic analysis and critique of more than 100 models of the transformation and crisis of democracy. The book will be of particular interest to researchers focusing on democratic theory and political thought, as well as those working empirically in the field of democratic systems.

Remembering Diversity in East-Central European Cityscapes. Based on up-to-date field material, this issue focuses on the palimpsest-like environments of East-Central European borderland cities. The present shapes and contents of these urban environments derive from combinations of cultural continuities and political ruptures, present-day heritage industries and collective memories about the contentious past, expressive material forms and less conspicuous meaning-making activities of human actors; they evolve from perpetual tensions between the choices of the present and the weight of the past. The contributors address a set of key questions: What is specific about the transnationalisation of memory in these urban public spaces? What are the political rationales and ramifications of the different approaches taken to the legacies of perished population groups in different cities? How do these approaches relate to European dimensions of memory and the "European vector" of identity-making of the contemporary urban populations?

Special Section: Multilingualism in Ukraine. Rory Finnin, Ivan Kozachenko: Introduction: Ukraines Multilingualism. Taras Koznarsky: The Languages and Tongues of Mykola Markevych. Myroslav Shkandrij: Channel Switching: Language Change and the Conversion Trope in Modern Ukrainian Literature. Laada Bilaniuk: Linguistic Conversion in Ukraine: Nation-Building on the Self. Vitaly Chernetsky: Ukrainian Cinema and the Challenges of Multilingualism: From the 1930s to the Present. Iryna Shuvalova: Multilingualism in the Songs of the War in Donbas. Olenka Bilash: Multilingualism in the Academy: Language Dynamics in Ukraines Higher Education Institutions. Alina Zubkovych: Language Use among Crimean Tatars in Ukraine: Context and Practice. Special Section: Issues in the History and Memory of the OUN III. Andreas Umland, Yuliya Yurchuk: Introduction: The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and European Fascism During World War II. Kai Struve: The OUN(b), the Germans, and Anti-Jewish Violence in Eastern Galicia during Summer 1941. Yuri Radchenko: The Biography of the OUN(m) Activist Oleksa Babii in the Light of His Memoirs on Escaping Execution (1942). Tomislav Dulic, Goran Miljan: The Ustaas and Fascism: Abolitionism, Revolution, and Ideology (192942).

Special Sections: Russian Foreign Policy Towards the Near Abroad and Russia's Annexiation of Crimea II. This special section deals with Russias post-Maidan foreign policy towards the so-called near abroad, or the former Soviet states. This is an important and timely topic, as Russias policy perspectives have changed dramatically since 2013/2014, as have those of its neighbours. The Kremlin today is paradoxically following an aggressive realist agenda that seeks to clearly delineate its sphere of influence in Europe and Eurasia while simultaneously attempting to promote soft-power and a historical-civilisational justification for its recent actions in Ukraine (and elsewhere). The result is an often-perplexing amalgam of policy positions that are difficult to disentangle. The contributors to this special issue are all regional specialists based either in Europe or the United States.